


The Turning Point

by RedDiamond2222



Category: Comedy - Fandom, Demons - Fandom, Eventual Romance - Fandom, High School - Fandom, More Characters To Be Added - Fandom, Romance - Fandom, Romantic Comedy - Fandom, Slice of life - Fandom
Genre: Basketball, Brother-Sister Relationships, Comedy, Demons, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Female Characters, Female Friendship, Funny, High School, Male Protagonist, Male-Female Friendship, Minor Character Death, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:00:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29988762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedDiamond2222/pseuds/RedDiamond2222
Summary: Graham was just your average, run-of-the-mill high-school boy. He had recently lost his parents in a devastating accident. It left him and his younger sister all alone in the world. Just as Graham was starting to settle in his new normal, a nighttime encounter would change everything. And not entirely for the better...
Comments: 1





	1. The Beginning of The End

As the sun crept lower and lower over the horizon, Graham began to slump over his desk. He was exhausted from the sheer amount of work he had done. 

Graham was 17 years old and attended Baltech Highschool. He resembled any other ordinary high school student. Graham was quite tall, being 6’1”. He had wavy black hair that was a bit too long. Although he was slender, he was lean with muscle. His eyes were a rich amber color. He wore a black vest with a purple rose, a white dress shirt, and black dress pants. Graham had just finished his shift at a local restaurant, where he served as a waiter. He had to pick up a part-time job in order to support his little sister and himself. It didn't pay much, but it was enough for the two of them to live peaceful, leisurely lives in his small town. As Graham looked outside his small window, he saw a mother bird covering her young. He flashed back to previous times, times where there was no stress over unpaid bills, school, and taking care of his sister. As he watched the avian family, he got up and went to make dinner for the night. 

* * *

Graham lives with his sister in a small apartment. He had legal guardianship over her ever since both of their parents had died in a car crash. There he was, one day trying to look good in front of girls and pass his chemistry class, and then in the next suddenly being the only caretaker over his 12-year-old sister. The person who had caused the accident that killed his parents had been incarcerated of course, but nothing could bring back what Graham and his sister, Claire, had lost that day. He remembers being so shocked, that he hadn't even cried at their funeral. Graham relived those moments in silence as he slowly made his homemade chicken curry. 

Out of nowhere, his little sister propped herself onto the counter. Graham should've jumped at her sudden scare, but he found that he became almost emotionless after his parents had died. 

"You're making Indian again?" she asked, making a face, "You know I can't handle spice very well." 

Graham let himself have a small smile. Claire was the only person he could open up to after the incident. By all means, Graham wasn't the “popular kid” at school, but he always had friends to talk to and hang out with. After that fateful night, however, he had begun to distance himself from everyone. He would put up a farce for his therapist and all of the doctors to make them satisfied, but in reality, Graham had become a completely different person. To add more injury, he was now treated as an outcast at school. The only person who truly understood how he felt was his sister. And he was really appreciative of that. In a way, Claire was also taking care of him. 

"Don't worry," he replied, "I toned it down after last time" 

"That wasn't even my fault!" she exclaimed, Claire turned around and pouted, "Did you...by any chance..." she said hesitantly. 

"Yes, I bought milk" Graham added, "just in case." 

Claire then smiled and thanked her brother. She then hopped off the counter and ran off to her room, leaving Graham alone with his thoughts once more. Graham stood there at the stove, thinking how much of a baby his sister was. He then started to wonder what a crappy situation he was in. He never once felt sorry for himself, but he was starting to for the first time in 3 years. He never asked for this. All he wanted was a normal high school life. A life where he'd get in trouble for sneaking out. A life where he had time to do dumb things with his friends. A life where he could maybe even get a girlfriend. Graham silently scolded himself. There was no point in dwelling in the past. You learn from it and move on. 

_Still_ , Graham thought, _it didn’t hurt to dream a little._

As Graham continued to daydream and think about what could've been, he began to smell burning. Pinching his nose and waving away the smoke, he quickly looked down and turned off the stove. He had burned his curry, which is quite the feat in its own right. Graham sighed. Maybe today was Claire's lucky day. Meatloaf it is, he decided. 

* * *

Graham's day began at 6:00. He quickly made his bed, brushed, threw on some jeans and a shirt, and went to go wake up his sister. Since they lived fairly far away from school and given the fact that they could only afford a bicycle, the two siblings had to wake up this early. His first task was to drop off Claire at her school. One day Claire had told him the other students at her school made fun of her for being dropped off on a bicycle. So now Graham begrudgingly dropped her off a ways away from her school, so she could go and walk the rest of the way. Today, as he watched her run to her friends, he thought of how cruel kids could be. They ostracized Claire just because she arrived at school on her bike? He then felt bitter about how he was treated too. After he saw that she had safely made it into the building, he cycled off towards his school. He then glanced towards his watch and cursed. He realized he was going to cut it close this time. 

The school day went by in a blur. Although he wasn't the smartest kid in class, he got pretty decent grades and understood the lessons. His favourite subject was English. He loved the fictitious stories and would often get lost in books. Although Graham had a soft spot for books, he was by no means weak. He certainly wasn’t a star athlete, but all those years bicycling and working as a waiter (which unfortunately included repairing anything wrong with the shop, restocking the humongous inventory, and even constructing new tables) he had built up enough endurance and strength to perform well in gym class. After school concluded, he got out his bike and rode towards his sister's school. Since his job was a ways off home, he would pick Claire up, drop her off at home, and then bike towards work. This was Graham's schedule. 

Although it might not look very exciting, it was a peaceful life. What Graham didn’t know, was that life was going to throw him quite a curveball that night. 


	2. An Unexpected Visitor

As Graham came home after another long shift, he saw that Claire had made up supper for him. She was sprawled over the dining table, peering over some chemical scribbles or something. He had no idea. Graham never did pass that chemistry class. He let himself have a small smile. He could always count on his sister to lift up his spirits. 

“Claire?”, he called, “I’m home, what’you doing?” 

“I’m just working on some homework,” she replied, “I worked for a bit today, so I’m going to bed early.” 

“Alright,” 

After saying this, Claire collected her things and disappeared down the hall. Graham couldn’t deny that he was a bit disappointed. He had hoped to talk for bit after the long day of dealing with entitled customers. He shrugged off his disappointment and tried to eat the supper she made for him. Unfortunately for Graham, his sister believed that cooking just required lumping leftovers together in a pan, heating it up and calling it a day. So, the food that she prepared (if you could even call it that) was badly burnt leftover lasagna, noodles, and beans. Graham tenderly poked the hot, smelly mass with his fork. Maybe he would skip dinner for tonight. 

After stomaching his sister’s Frankenstein of foods, Graham hobbled off to bed. He was looking forward to sleeping in early. As Graham went to turn on his bedroom light, he was greeted with the most terrifying sight he had ever seen. 

There was a purple monster standing in the middle of the room, peering fiendishly at Graham. Its purple tentacles reared back and forth like snakes. Its red, scaly skin shone under the bedroom’s soft yellow light. Its eyes were a light shade of purple, gleaming with malevolence. Its yellow claws were the size of large bananas. Its large, red tail was sprawling over the bedroom. Its wings touched either side of Graham’s room. Granted, it was a small room, but that just made the monster look more intimidating. The entire thing literally shone with murderous intent. 

And how did our young protagonist, Graham, react to such a disturbing freak of nature? 

He blinked. And that was his one reaction. Graham’s face was stoic. Forget about fear or terror, there wasn’t even a shred of emotion on his face. Any sensible person would scream, flee, or do a combination of both. But Graham just blinked and scratched his butt in offhand interest. 

“So, umm,” Graham monotonously spoke, “Could we not do this right now?” 

There was a long pause. There was such silence in the house, that Graham could hear his own heartbeat. The monster, for its part, looked incredulous. 

“Aren’t you going to do something?” it growled. 

“Well not really. I don’t know if you know this, but I’m not really a “reactive” kind of person” 

“Reactive?” The monster now looked absolutely flabbergasted. 

“Yeah. I don’t show emotion very well.” 

There was another pause. And then the monster started to rumble. No, like really rumble. Like a giant cat. Graham just stood there like a statue as the monster started to convulse. As a brilliant flash shone throughout the room, Graham averted his eyes. He heard a soft thud and when he looked back the monster was gone. That was the good news. The bad news was that his room now smelled like rotten eggs and formaldehyde had an ungodly child. The scary news was that where the large, disgusting monster had once stood, there was now a girl. A girl who looked very angry with Graham. He sighed, today was going to be a long day. 


	3. A New Addition

Graham awkwardly shifted from one foot to the next. He used the unbearingly awkward silence to study his unexpected guest. She looked like any regular teen, disregarding the fact that she was radiating murderous intent. She had raven-black hair, which was tied up in a ponytail. She stood confidently, without a care in the world. She had purple eyes, which seemed to glow iridescently in the room. Oh, and her skin was a pale red. Graham started to feel a bit embarrassed. Three years had passed and not one girl even noticed his existence. And now he was facing a rather cute girl (never mind the skin color, Graham was a true activist for racial equality) that seemed to contemplate the best way to rearrange his intestines. He thought of giving the girl a cracker, but then came to the conclusion that she probably didn’t care for puns. He cleared his throat. 

“So...hi, My name’s Graham and-” he spoke tentatively. 

“You’ve ruined everything!” the girl spoke angrily, cutting him off. 

“What are you talking about?” He looked confused now. “I was just getting ready for bed when I get jump scared by a monster. And then I have to face something even worse, you. By all means, I should be the one who’s mad.” 

“If you were scared, then why didn’t you jump back, scream, run away, or all of the above?” 

“As I told you before, I’m not a really reactive person.” 

“Uh!” she groaned angrily, “You’ve messed up everything you dolt!” 

Muttering one hundred curses at Graham, she turned around and literally faded into the wall. Graham’s jaw dropped. He slowly waved his hand where the girl had once been standing. Graham just stood in his room for a while, contemplating what in the world he had just witnessed. After walking around the apartment, checking every cabinet and cupboard for any other unwanted visitors, Graham walked back into his bedroom. He rubbed his eyes, scratched his head, and collapsed into bed. He decided he would never eat his sister’s breakfast again. It wasn’t worth the hallucinations. 

The next morning, he was greeted with quite the sight. The angry girl was back. She was standing over his bed and peering at him. Only this time, she looked like she only wanted to give Graham a wedgie, not rearrange his entire DNA structure. Those purple eyes now stood over him and seemed to stare right into his very soul. 

“Good morning?” Graham spoke, hoping not to incur her wrath once more. 

“Good morning,” she replied, “You’re a rather...interesting human.” 

Graham first began to blush, he’d never been called interesting before. But he soon recovered once he realized it wasn’t really a compliment. 

“Could you tell me what the hell is going on?” Graham inquired. “I’m really confused on why you’re here right now.” 

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes. “As you can see, I’m not exactly human. My name is Karyl, and my job is to terrify humans” she described with relish. “My entire job is to terrorize and make people scream with fear” 

“Sounds like a pretty good gig,” Graham hoped to God that she had a sense of humor. 

“I know right?” she agreed, “It’s a shame other demons don’t think so and only haunt the occasional graveyard.” 

Graham made a mental note to not visit the occasional graveyard. 

“So anyway,” Karyl continued, “I’ve been doing this for quite a while now, and you are the first person to never die or scream or even wet yourself, it’s quite impressive.” She then continued, “So, I’ve decided to study you, and figure out why you’re different from the rest of humanity.” 

Graham felt heat rise up towards his face. He’d been invisible for the past three years. He was so lonely, that he even composed a song. You might have heard of it, the most popular lyric being _Hello darkness, my old friend_. But anyway, he was definitely not used to being a point of interest for anyone, especially a rather cute demon girl (Graham never thought he’d say that sentence in his life). 

_But what if this is a turning point or a new beginning for my life,_ Graham thought. 

After some contemplation, he finally decided to give whatever she was implying a shot. What was the worst that could happen? His life was already rock bottom. He smiled and sat up in his bed. He took Karyl’s hand and shook it. 

“Alright, I’m in!” Graham declared. 

“I don’t think you really had a choice either way, but it’s nice you’re so excited,” Karyl responded. 

Graham shrugged off that last comment. Maybe today was the start of a new life for Graham. A clean slate, where he could forget about the past and look forward to a glorious future. 


	4. The New Normal

Graham's head started to drop and lean dangerously towards the flat edge of his desk. Right at the last second, he jerked his head back towards a more normalish position. And thus, the cycle had begun again. 

Karyl, the demon girl thing who nearly gave him a heart attack last night, made him stay up all night to answer what seemed like a million questions. _What are your strengths? What is your greatest fear? What color is your toothbrush?_ Graham was already pooped after a strenuous shift at work, but now he had to deal with her pestering. He tried going to sleep, but Karyl had threatened to give him a free lobotomy. So, he didn’t really have a choice. The thing was, and Graham would never admit this to himself, he was secretly pleased with talking to someone other than family, never mind the threatening circumstances. 

“Graham!” his teacher barked. 

He shot up once more 

“Yes Mr. Fletcher, sir!” a startled Graham stammered. 

“Were you not paying attention to what I just asked you?” Mr. Fletcher asked. 

“Umm, well. You see...” Graham trailed off. 

The class snickered a little. Graham wanted the earth to swallow him up right there. Mr. Fletcher pinched the bridge of his nose and said something under his breath. Probably something about how teachers don’t get paid enough. 

“Just tell me, which element has the higher polarizability ability: Fluorine or Oxygen?” Mr. Fletcher asked. 

Graham internally groaned. He had no time to look over his notes last night. He sighed. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to go through with Karyl’s “proposal”. 

The rest of the school day went by in a blur. In gym class, they played basketball, his favorite sport. He usually loved being center and just passing the ball back to his teammates. It was one of few moments where he actually felt noticed. Today, however, Graham had to try his hardest not to fall flat on his face. He suddenly realized he had to work after school. He sighed. Man, he was not looking forward to this day. As Graham was feeling sorry for himself, he heard his name being called. As he turned around, he was greeted with an up and personal view of a basketball barreling towards him. Yeah, today was definitely not his day. 

* * *

After an embarrassing shift and almost getting fired, Graham was finally home. Now, at this point, he was just running on fumes, but he really didn’t want to let his sister handle dinner. For all he knew, it was probably his sister’s fault for even summoning Karyl or something. His mood still being sour, he opened the front door. 

“Hey Claire, I’m home. I feel tired today so I’m just going to heat up some leftov-” Graham suddenly stopped. 

Sitting at the table with Claire, and chatting nonchalantly, was no other than Karyl. 

“Hey Graham,” Claire greeted, “You didn’t tell me you made a new...friend at school.” 

Graham swore he saw Claire’s eyebrow twitch slightly as she said the last part. 

“Umm, yeah. I was going to tell you about it later.” Graham swallowed. “Could you please excuse us for a moment?” 

Graham then took Karyl by the hand and led her to the living room. 

“What are you doing?” Graham frantically asked. “Don’t you know that my sister will freak if she sees you?” 

Karyl rolled her eyes. 

“Don’t worry you dolt. I can control how others see me, don’t you remember when we first met? So although you can see how I really look like, your sister just sees a normal highschooler.” 

As she said the last part, she shimmered like a ripple in water between. Karyl, the girl demon, suddenly shifted into what looked like an ordinary girl. Graham scratched his head. 

“Well okay, but how did she respond to you suddenly showing up in our home?” he asked. 

“I just told her we were friends” Karyl explained while twirling a strand of her hair. 

“Okay but still-” 

Graham was suddenly cut off by his sister calling out from the other room. 

“Umm...if you want I can leave and give you some space,” Claire interrupted. 

Graham ran into the other room. 

“No. No, you're just misunderstanding!” Graham said desperately while waving his arms. He continued, “We were just...talking about the English quiz we had. Yeah, that’s it.” 

“Alright, well I’m heading off. Goodnight brother.” Claire closed her binder with a bit more force than necessary and hurried off to her room. 

Graham sighed. Man, what was her problem now? He then decided to deal with one problem at a time. He walked back to the living room where Karyl was now sprawled over the couch. Upon his entrance, she propped herself up and extended her legs over the coffee table. 

“So, are you ready for my questions?” she asked with a gleam in her eyes. 

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Graham said, “It's been really messing up with my schedule, so I was hoping we could figure something else out.” 

Karyl thought about this for a second. She pulled her legs back in and sat in a more thoughtful position. Her face then brightened and she looked back at Graham. 

“We already told your sister that I’m a friend from school. So why don’t we follow through with that idea? That way, I’ll be there for myself and can study you firsthand. And it won’t mess with your schedule either.” 

“Yeah, that sounds pretty good,” Graham replied. He then paused for a moment and then continued, “But how’ll you get in the same classes as me?” 

Karyl absently dismissed the thought with her hand. 

“Don’t worry about that, leave that to me,” Karyl reassured. 

Graham felt a lot better with the new agreed-upon schedule. He would have time to study, sleep, and do everything he had done before Karyl came into his life. Graham would also have time to sleep, which was an idea he thought of happily. He suddenly thought of a question. 

“Hey Karyl?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Why’d you agree to change your schedule for my sake?” 

His question had obviously caught Karyl off guard. After he asked the question, Karyl stiffened and balled up her hands, and placed them on her knees. 

“Oh...umm for no reason. I just thought it would be better for me that’s all,” Karyl curtly replied while turning her face away from Graham. 

“Oh, um okay. I’ll be making some dinner. Do you want some?” 

“Wha? Oh, umm sure.” Karyl replied nervously. 

As Graham left her to go scrounge up some dinner, Karyl breathed a sigh of relief. The truth was, Karyl was watching Graham the entire day. She had seen how sluggish he had been the entire day and felt a tiny amount of pity for the boy. Another thing, something that Karyl would never admit, was that she admired Graham’s resolve. He had taken care of his sister for three whole years and was the loneliest kid in school. This didn’t even seem to discourage Graham. His resilience had earned a little bit of Karyl’s respect. She, of course, would never admit this. Karyl turned her head and studied Graham as he effortlessly chopped up some garlic. 

_Maybe this’ll be more fun than I first thought_ , she thought. 


	5. Befuddled Plans

Graham was rushing down the east hall, desperately trying to reach his English class on time. Because of their discussion last night, Graham had thought he and Karyl would bike to school together or something. His sister’s class were going on a field trip that day, so a bus had come and picked her up before breakfast. After breakfast that morning, Karyl had shut herself in the bathroom. Graham thought this indicated she wanted for him to wait and so, he waited for about an hour, looking at his watch every so often. He tapped his foot impatiently. Man, he was going to be late, again! He finally knocked the bathroom door and called out her name. 

“Karyl?” Graham knocked on the door once more, “We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up!” 

As he knocked again on the door, it slowly swung open. Graham hesitated for a second. He covered his eyes with his hand and gingerly peeked his head into the door. 

“Karyl? You there?” 

Upon receiving no answer, he took his hand off his face. There was no one in the bathroom. He cursed. 

_Why don’t we plan these things better!_ He thought to himself. 

Graham turned around, ran off to the front door and slammed it shut behind him. He unlocked his bike from the post and bicycled like a madman towards school. Unbeknownst to Graham, he had unconsciously shattered the maximum speed a person could theoretically cycle, disproving all modern physics. He pedaled with inhuman speed, blazing off to his school. 

After recalling the events leading up to this point, Graham finally reached his class. Although he was drenched in sweat, at least he wasn’t late. As he took his seat by the window, the teacher started taking attendance. 

“We have a new student joining our class,” the gentlemanly teacher informed the class. He continued, “She is a transfer student, so please treat her with patience and respect.” 

The English teacher rearranged his spectacles and peered at the attendance sheet. 

“Also, the student’s family has requested for Graham to show her around the school.” He looked up from the sheet. “Is that alright with you Graham?” 

Graham made a mental note to berate Karyl once they got home. 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” 

“Alrighty then, Karyl you can come in now.” 

Karyl entered the homely little English class. She looked no different to Graham, same violet eyes, same palish red skin, but she apparently changed her appearance for the other students. The moment she had entered the room, everyone in the class started whispering. Graham couldn’t catch all of it, but they were probably talking about how pretty the new girl was or something, that’s about how these types of tropes go. After telling the class about herself, her interests, etc., she took the empty seat next to Graham. 

“Where were you?!” Graham hissed, “I was almost late today waiting for you!” 

“I never asked for you to wait around for me,” she curtly replied. 

Graham shifted in his seat. 

“You know, you’re impossible.” Graham monotonously stated. 

She smirked, “Yeah, I know.” 

* * *

After a rather exciting English class discussing the symbolism in Of Mice and Men (R.I.P Lennie), Graham had gotten himself ready for gym class. They were once again playing his favorite sport, basketball. As he sat on the bleachers, tying his shoes, Karyl walked over from a group of people. She had already made tons of friends; Graham had noticed bitterly. 

“Y’know, the last time you played basketball, you never even tried scoring for yourself. You just caught rebounds and passed them back to other players on your team.” 

“Well, that’s kind of the whole point in being center.” 

“No. Center’s often try to rebound shots and even try to score themselves. This isn’t the NBA, so there’s no need for you to take center so seriously. Go out on a limb and try scoring for once.” 

Graham was finished tying his shoes and stood up. 

“The reason I go around only passing the ball to my teammates is because that’s the only time I feel _noticed_. I’m invisible every time else, but whenever I’m playing center, people always call out my name and ask for passes.” 

Karyl was silent for a moment. 

“You told me that you were sick of people treating you like an outcast. That you wanted to be treated like anybody else in school. That you wanted to be an ordinary highschooler. But if you just sit around, just taking the punches and acting like a wimp, then how is this going to change?” she said while waving her hand. 

Graham was quiet once more. He balled up his hands and began to speak in a low tone. 

“You don’t know how it’s like.” 

She scoffed, “Really? That’s your excuse? Maybe you aren’t special anyway. Maybe you’re just like the other humans. A whining person who’s too lazy to make any meaningful changes.” 

Graham was starting to feel angry. Why was she lecturing him? He never claimed to be special. He didn’t ask for her, for this. He was about to speak his mind when the P.E. teacher called out. 

“C’mon Walker! Get moving!” he barked. 

Graham brushed past her without saying anything. He kept his head low. She was just like the others, someone who didn’t understand how he felt. A stranger. A person to lie to. A person who wanted Graham to put on a fake face. Just thinking about it made Graham grit his teeth. If she wanted a performance, then she’d had to look elsewhere. His life was a lot more peaceful before she ever came into it. Still, her words nagged at the back of his mind. 


	6. Coming Out Of A Shell

Graham watched the basketball blur around the court. Nothing else mattered to him at that moment. It was just him and the ball. Suddenly, the ball flew towards a tall, skinny kid. He was the guy Graham was supposed to be guarding. It shouldn’t have been too hard of a job, since the only thing Mr. Long Legs knew what to do was throw bricks from the three-point line. Like seriously, the man was 6’5” but always shot from the three-point line. Brushing those thoughts away, Graham once again focused on the ball.  _ Thump  _ _ Thump _ _ Thump _ . The ball bounced on the wooden maple floor rhythmically, almost like a heartbeat. Edgar Allen Poe would’ve been a huge fan. Suddenly, Graham saw an opening. He swiped his hand out and scooped up the ball. He dribbled twice and turned 90 degrees, looking for an open teammate. Graham’s eyes frantically searched the entire court, but he couldn’t find any open teammates. As he looked around once more, his eyes met Karyl’s, who was watching from the bleachers. As he turned away and dribbled, he thought of their exchange only a few minutes prior. He tensed. Was he really going to do this? He thought back to the words she had said.

_ “Maybe you aren’t special anyway. Maybe you’re just like the other humans. A whining person who’s too lazy to make any meaningful changes.” _

Graham steeled himself. He was going to prove her wrong. He gritted his teeth. She didn’t know anything. She didn’t know the countless months he had suffered quietly. The stress of bills and taking care of another person. He was going to prove her wrong. A surge of confidence swept over Graham. He was going to do this. He was going to win. Basketball in hand, Graham dribbled like a madman to the basket. Nothing else mattered to him at that moment. It was just him, the ball, and the basket. After getting to the paint, Graham jumped up. This was his moment. He was going to succeed!

* * *

Graham lied there on the floor groaning. It was not his moment. Shortly after jumping, he received the hardest block of his goddamn life. Remember that skinny dude Graham was making fun of a while ago? Well, he got retribution by absolutely gob smacking the living daylights out of Graham. Fortunately, gym class ended shortly after, so Graham’s graceless fall wasn’t seen by too many people. As he lay there, offhandedly looking at the gym’s unused ceiling fans (Seriously what’s up with those? How come they’re never used?) Karyl appeared and peered down at him. She lightly kicked his head with her foot.

“I couldn’t do it,” Graham said bitterly, “I failed again. I made a fool out of myself in front of  everyone.”

“Well, what’d you expect?” Karyl said with a wry smile, “Every time you play basketball, all you do is sit under the hoop and pass back missed shots. It’s not surprising you didn’t make  the shot.”

Graham grunted in reply and covered his eyes with his forearm.

“Although, you did do _one_ surprising thing,” Karyl continued, “You actually tried. I had thought  you would’ve just stuck to your guns and did the same boring thing over and over.”

“It was your kind words that spurred me on,” Graham said sarcastically.

“Well, you’re right. But I can’t take all of the credit.” Karyl replied, completely missing Graham’s  sarcastic undertone.

Karyl continued, “Anyway, we should better get to, what is it you humans call it again?  Mathematics?”

She turned away from Graham and started walking away.

“I spent over half my life studying arcane magic and conjuring, your ‘Mathematics’ shouldn’t be  too hard to understand.”

Graham once again grunted in a dignified way and pulled himself up. 

_ Nice of her to lend me a hand,  _ Graham thought indignantly. 

* * *

Karyl was sprawled across Graham’s bedroom floor, with papers ridded with math scribbles scattered all around her. She groaned.

“There’s nothing about this I understand!”

Graham was sitting at his desk, lamp on. He absentmindedly chewed on the tip of his pencil. He had no time to deal with Karyl’s antics. He seriously had to solve this homework. He had tried to pay attention in math class, but Karyl kept bugging him. She ignored the math lesson since it was, and I quote, “ _ Waste of my intelligence and time”  _ and then proceeded to spend the entire period pestering Graham. Graham scrunched his eyebrows. 

_Okay, so in multiplying_ _7d_ _5_ _r_ _3_ and _(2r_ _2_ _d_ _3_ _)_ _2_ _, I need to multiply the exponents when they’re outside_ _of the parenthesis and I’m distributing. And when_ _it's_ _just normal multiplication I just add the_ _exponents. Wait, since I’m multiplying the exponents when they’re out of the parenthesis, do I_ _multiply 2 by 3 or raise 2 by a power of 3?_

Graham offhandedly  scratched his head and once again peered down at the problem. 

_ I’m pretty sure I need to raise 2 by a power of 3.  _ _ Otherwise, _ _ it wouldn’t make sense.  _

Graham began to work out the solution. After solving the first one, Graham seemed to get the hang of it. He had finished around 15 minutes later. He glanced over to see how Karyl was doing. She was still on the floor, papers around her in disarray. Graham sighed. Maybe he should go help her out. He got up from his desk and walked over to her. He crouched down and picked up a discarded paper. He grimaced. She was doing everything wrong. He let himself have a slight chuckle. What happened to the “arcane arts” she had bragged about in school? He started to collect the papers.

“ Y’know , you aren’t very smart Karyl,” Graham said laughingly.

Karyl grunted and threw a pillow at him. Graham expertly dodged the deadly projectile. 

“Here, sit at the desk. I’ll tell you what you’re doing wrong.”

“What makes you think I’ll ever accept your help? I don’t need it at all,” Karyl scorned.

“Alright, I’ll let you take your chances with Mr. Radford. I’m sure he’ll be very understanding in  your excuse,” Graham said with a gleam in his eyes.

She shuddered. Their math teacher was infamous for his strict demeanor and personality. She begrudgingly got up from her position and walked over the desk. She slumped down and laid her head on the desk, with her face facing Graham’s. 

“Now that’s a good girl,” Graham said mockingly.

Karyl furrowed her brows.

“Don’t push your luck you dolt.”

Remember earlier in the story, when Graham had thought that she was going to give him a fatality worthy of Mortal Kombat? Yeah, she slowly started to build up that aura once more. Graham felt dread settle in his stomach.

“Okay! Okay! I was just kidding, gosh,” Graham frantically blurted while waving his hands in  defense.

He cleared his throat. Graham pulled up a chair and positioned it next to Karyl’s. He pulled out the rumpled papers and started to go through each problem. A nice jazz melody started to play as a montage of Graham teaching Karyl the basics of Algebra flashed across the screen. (I don’t want to write out how to solve each and every problem. That’s kind of boring. So please just bear with me here. Just  pretend, okay? I know you’ve read enough  fics to use your imagination.)

“Alright, so that’s basically it,” Graham said cheerfully. “I’ll write up some problems for you to  make sure you understand.”

Graham jotted down a couple of problems and handed the paper over to Karyl.

“Here you go. And don’t forget, if you don’t understand, I’ll just explain it to you again.”

Karyl grabbed the paper. She was  _ tired _ . She decided to hate math with a burning passion. She fought back a yawn and looked over the problems. 

_ It’s not that hard,  _ she mused,  _ Damn, he can actually teach. _

She grabbed her pen and went to work on the problems. Graham watched her for a while, but eventually got up. He started to walk out of the room.

“I’ll be back in a sec,” he called over his shoulder.

He left his bedroom and made for his sister’s room. He yawned. Man, he was tired. Graham then thought about how preoccupied he was with his own struggles, that he had barely even seen his sister all day. And Graham still had to pick up a few things at the store. He knocked at the door.

“Claire? How you doing?”

Graham waited for a response, but got none. He knocked once more.

“I’m heading out to the store; do you want anything?” 

Graham again waited for a response. When he was about to knock once more, the door had suddenly opened. Claire stood in her room, doorknob in hand. She looked upset. Graham gulped. He tried a smile.

“ Heyyyyyyy . Um, is everything okay? You look mad,” Graham said nervously.

“On the contrary, I’m not upset at all,” Claire replied curtly.

Graham started sweating. Who says “on the contrary” in their day-to-day life anymore? Bro, she was  definitely mad. 

“ Oooookay . So, um I was just heading out and wondered if you wanted anything?” 

She looked back at Graham with an impassive face.

“Graham, do you remember today’s date?”

Graham blinked. 

“ ....the 12th?” Graham  responded meekly.

Claire then got up slowly. She turned around, and quick as a cat, threw her pillow with all of her might at her brother. The pillow flew towards Graham at speed fast enough to break the sound barrier. The pillow had once even temporarily teleported into the fifth dimension, before warping back in time for Graham’s face. Graham felt the pillow knock him off his feet. His final thoughts as he stumbled  onto the floor were, “ _ Yup, she’s definitely mad. _ ”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fiction writing so please be kind. I'd appreciate any suggestions or recommendations! Thanks! And stay safe out there!


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